Newton softball team drops two

Thursday

May 2, 2013 at 7:09 AMMay 2, 2013 at 7:09 AM

By Mark Schnabel Newton Kansan

The Newton High School softball team had points in both games against the Hutchinson Salt Hawks to either tie or take the lead. The Railers dropped both games Wednesday at Kelsch Field. Hutchinson won the first game 5-2 and the second game 13-6. "Friday, we played pretty great against Salina Central," Newton coach Kirsten Horton said. "We turned around Tuesday (against Maize) and it went all down hill mentally. It's hard to come back and play the next day. The weather didn't help. It was 90 yesterday and freezing today. I'm proud of our last inning. I thought we might come back from that. In the first game, there were a few (base running errors). Sometimes, they have a little blackout time, and sometimes they happen at the same time." In the first game, Hutchinson scored three runs in the first inning. A two-out error in the third inning led to two more runs. Newton used a couple hits, walks, errors and a wild pitch to score two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. A potential third run in the inning was tagged out at home on the wild pitch. Newton had two runners on base and the game-tying run at the plate in the bottom of the seventh, but a baserunner caught stealing and a strikeout ended the threat. Taja Casanova pitched the win for Hutchinson. Lauren Regier took the loss for Newton. Jessica Motes and Taylor Burns each had two hits for the Railers. Julia Henry had two hits for Hutchinson. In the second game, Hutchinson took a 7-0 lead in the first two innings and added three runs in the fourth. Newton came back with three runs of its own in the bottom of the fourth. Hutchinson came back with a run in the fifth and another in the sixth, but the Railers were able to keep potential run-rule runs from getting across the plate. Hutchinson added another run in the seventh. In the bottom of the seventh, the Railers combined walks, hits and an error to score three runs. The Railers left bases loaded when the game ended. Casanova pitched for the win in the second game. Taylor Goerend took the loss for the Railers. Sara Rothe had five hits for Hutchinson, followed by Shayla DeGarmo and Emily Wessel each had two hits. Motes had two hits for Newton. Hutchinson improves to 6-4, 4-0 in Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail League Division I play. Newton falls to 3-15, 2-10 in AV-CTL I play. Newton ends the regular season May 9 at home against Goddard Eisenhower for senior night. "We have a whole week off now," Horton said. "Then we play Eisenhower. That's it until regionals." Tuesday, Newton dropped a pair of games at Maize. Newton lost the first game 19-4 and the second game 11-0. Both games were called after five innings on the 10-run rule.